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Another Excellent Lefsetz Article.

This business went in the crapper when the executives started believing they
were bigger than the acts, that the audience was interested in THEM, not the
performers.

And why be interested in the acts, they were just tools of the machine.
Picked on their looks, singing the songs of hacks, the music lost its soul,
its religion, its sense of theatre, its VAUDEVILLE HISTORY!

Van Halen was no James Cameron production, no slick artifice, it was just
four guys from Pasadena working their way up from beer parties to the TOP,
testing limits, getting better every step of the way.

We all agree Eddie Van Halen is a genius, but without David Lee Roth Van
Halen never would have broken through. Sammy may have a better voice, I
love "Best Of Both Worlds", but without DLR there IS NO Van Halen, no
notice. A band without a frontman is...the NICE?

You need a singer, someone who can enrapture the audience, someone who can
make the audience pay attention. That person in Van Halen's case was David
Lee Roth. Better David Lee Roth with ANYBODY behind him than ANYBODY in
Velvet Revolver or Audioslave (is there a difference, aren't both made up of
has-beens who can't work on their own?)

Stunningly, David Lee Roth can still work on his own. Granted, to an
ever-dwindling audience. But people still want to be touched. Want to
remember when they were in high school, and DIDN'T GIVE A FUCK! Van Halen
was music for people enmeshed in the system who wanted a WAY OUT! That's
what music used to provide. Back when it was a culture of notes, not pricks
with $5,000 suits and multiple assistants.

This is the last nail in the coffin for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
This is the final joke. When you don't even let the INDUCTEES perform.

Why not? Because it's on TELEVISION? Doesn't that prove the point? That
when you start worrying about the audience rather than the music you've lost
the thread?

Back when Van Halen reigned, the ultimate goal was to get backstage. To
hang with the band, whether male or female. It not only made your night,
but maybe your life. To get that close. To the talented who played by
their own rules.

That's what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was. A
private party. That the public LONGED to attend. Back when there was no
question the inductees were legends.

An edited show for VH1 was bad enough. A live broadcast? Why? Is this any
different from the Paris Hilton sex tape? A staged event, distributed for
publicity?

The R&RHOF needs cash. It needs to perpetuate itself. When it's the MUSIC
that's important, that will outlive this lame organization run by men and
women who never had the adoration of tens of thousands of fans, who never
held them in the palm of their hands, who never knew the POWER of being a
star.

You can be rich, but that doesn't make you a star.

And the biggest star amongst this year's inductees has now been refused the
right to perform at his own party. Isn't that like not allowing the
President to attend his own inauguration?

Let every table at the Waldorf-Astoria be adorned with a bowl of brown
M&M's. And when it comes time for Van Halen to be inducted, let everybody
THROW THEM AT THE DAIS!

That's the rock and roll spirit. Throwing out decorum, knowing that a big
star plays by his OWN RULES!

If only the pricks who made this decision had one iota of David Lee Roth's
star power. If only they realized they're what's killing not only the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame, but the record business too.

If Michael Stipe had any balls he'd refuse to attend unless DLR could come
and perform too. What, Paul Shaffer gets to play all these years but David
Lee Roth CAN'T?

"I'm still 16 inside. I still have that passion, and any true musician doesn't do it for any other reason than passion. My motivation has never been financial. Music is what I do. It's the only thing I know how to do." -EVH

"Marriage has 3 rings. The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering"-DLR

"I believe that every one on this planet is born with a gift, and I was just lucky enough to find mine. So I'm very blessed, and very grateful."-EVH

I'd agree up to a point. Frankly I do not see the cause for Michael Stipe to do anything. Why and how should Van Halen's problems affect/detract Stipe or R.E.M.'s acceptance into the RRHOF, and why would Stipe/R.E.M. even care to be involved?

David Lee Roth (and by extension Van Halen) does not need others making his points for him. His simple boycott of the "ceremony" speaks volumes in and of itself.

It's the RRHOF folks...credibility has absolutely nothing to do with the equation.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Hall of Fame just pissed me off for the last time. The first time was when Van Halen did NOT get in the first time they were eligible. Now, they don't let one of the greatest frontmen of all time not perform? Fuck'em!!!!

Eddie - get well soon
Alex - keep your brother on the right path
Mike - still the classy guy
Dave - Kudos for sticking up for what's right
Sammy - Make us proud with your speech

Remember the Heroes - 9/11/01

In 2012, the phoenix has risen!!

"High speed, low drag."

"Look at all the people here tonight!!!" - 10/5/07, 5/20/08 Mohegan Sun

Congratulations to Van Halen as part of the Class of 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Great article, can someone call up Velvet Revolver and tell them to have Dave and Sammy each do a song with them as the backing band? This would really stick to the hall of fame assholes and give VR a whole new level of respect.

Hall of Fame just pissed me off for the last time. The first time was when Van Halen did NOT get in the first time they were eligible. Now, they don't let one of the greatest frontmen of all time not perform? Fuck'em!!!!

Eddie - get well soon
Alex - keep your brother on the right path
Mike - still the classy guy
Dave - Kudos for sticking up for what's right
Sammy - Make us proud with your speech

Dave, Alex & Mike should have their place more so than Hagar in terms of the acceptance speech since they ARE FOUNDING MEMBERS of the band. It is okay for Sammy to speak, but he takes 2nd seat to the original lineup.

Dave, Alex & Mike should have their place more so than Hagar in terms of the acceptance speech since they ARE FOUNDING MEMBERS of the band. It is okay for Sammy to speak, but he takes 2nd seat to the original lineup.

Well I hope Brian Johnson took a step back when AC/DC went in....Ringo when the Beatles went in....Charlie Watts & Ron Wood when the Stones went in...David Gilmour when Pink Floyd went in...Clapton, Beck & Page all should have taken a step back when the Yardbirds went in as they aren't original members either going by this logic.

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I think the fact people are in school so much longer adds to this issue. This is especially true for those who borrow money for school.